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Post photographer Michael Williamson is traveling across the country covering the economic situation.

About This Blog

Half A Tank is a summer-long quest to find images and stories of people whose lives have been altered by a flattened economy. Starting from home in the D.C. suburbs, Theresa Vargas and Michael Williamson are traveling around the country to experience how people are coping, struggling, even flourishing as we all reconsider how we live. Please share your reactions and experiences in the comment sections that follow each post.

Theresa Vargas is a native of San Antonio who, until now, has had only two
memorable road trips: Hitchhiking through South America and riding in the
back of a pick-up truck from California to Texas at the peak of summer. She came to The Post in 2006, where she has covered crime and
education. She lives in Virginia.

Michael Williamson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer. He was born in Washington, D.C. and lived in 37 other places before coming back to work at The Washington Post in 1993.

The End of the Road

A self portrait Michael made in North Dakota. Photo by Michael Williamson/The Washington Post

It’s the one question Michael and I heard most: Did you fight?

The truth is, if we had, I probably would’ve blogged about it.

There was a moment early on when Michael told me how he grew up in foster care and how easily he could’ve turned out like some of the more vulnerable people we were meeting. We were barely getting to know each other--we hadn’t met before this assignment--but I had to decide that night if our personal conversation was part of our journey, if it ought to be part of Half a Tank.

As newspaper journalists, most of the stories we cover require us to step out of the picture. That’s where both Michael and I felt most comfortable before this assignment. But Half a Tank changed that for us. We realized early on that all of us--you, Michael, me, and the people who shared their stories here--were in this together.

Michael and I posted more than 110 entries, but you wrote nearly 900 comments and sent dozens of emails. Some of you even sent checks and offers of help to the people we met along the way.

It is with mixed emotions that Michael and I bring Half a Tank to a close. But after more than 20,000 miles and 30 states, we’ve hit the end of the road. We’re home.

To those of you in the back seat who traveled with us, thank you for the company. Half a Tank was as much your space as it was ours. Here are some photos from the road that we didn’t get a chance to show you before:

A sign in Kansas that was likely left over from 9-11 but also spoke to the spirit we saw in some places. Photo by Michael Williamson/The Washington Post

A preacher we met in Tunica, Mississippi. Photo by Michael Williamson/The Washington Post

A sign we ignored several times. Photo by Michael Williamson/The Washington Post